New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act is applicable to a claim that a Progressive auto insurance policyholder was misled into signing a release of her injury claim, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled in a precedential decision.

The case concerns a woman who suffered injuries in a crash in which her insurance company, Progressive Garden State Insurance Co., also was the insurer for the other driver. A consumer fraud claim was dismissed in U.S. district court based on case law holding that the act does not apply to the denial of insurance benefits. But the appeals court said the plaintiff’s claim falls squarely under the CFA, since she relied on false representations of a Progressive agent she believed was looking out for her interests.